


Strawberries

by L0NE



Category: SideM - Fandom, THE iDOLM@STER, THE iDOLM@STER: SideM
Genre: M/M, cats are involved, i had suggested this ship as a joke but the dynamic is good so here we are!, short and sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-23
Updated: 2017-11-23
Packaged: 2019-02-05 21:50:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,435
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12803121
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/L0NE/pseuds/L0NE
Summary: Feeding cats and confessing love.





	Strawberries

**Author's Note:**

> i usually keep honorifics out of my fics but for this im using what they call each other just cuz i like it.  
> this is a joke ship that became reality. thanks.

Takeru hated going shopping for cat food. Not because he hated feeding the local stray cats in any way, but because half of the time, the local grocery never seemed to have the more expensive, better tasting brands of food. Takeru, of course, couldn’t confirm they were better tasting, as he’d never eaten any of them before, but the strays seemed to like the ones that took more toll on his wallet. And them being happy made Takeru happy. He hadn’t originally pictured using his money as an idol to buy things like this, but now he couldn’t imagine it being any other way.

  
As he did every day, Takeru rounded the corner of the seventh isle of the local grocery, and, after scouring every nook and cranny, discovered that he was out of luck once again. Even when he rearranged the shelves to try and find at least one can of what he was looking for, he came up empty— What he wanted was nowhere to be found.

  
The next best thing was the second-most expensive brand, priced at 10% less than what he’d usually buy. He grimaced. Was he sure the cats would be okay with this? They only came in chicken flavor, too, and he’d given them chicken yesterday, so he wanted to have variety...

  
Takeru glanced at his wristwatch. The store would close in 5 minutes— looks like they would have to be okay with this, at least for tonight. He grabbed a couple of other necessities and headed toward the store’s cashier so he could leave quickly.

  
As he waited on line to pay, Takeru reprimanded himself for getting to the grocery so late. It wasn’t exactly his fault, though— lessons had gone on longer today due to Ren goofing off; refusing to try on the new outfits for their next Live Show and hiding the sheet music for Vocal practice. Those were his usual antics, but he still managed to go too far somehow— he nearly kicked a hole in the Dance studio after challenging Takeru to a fight, and the Producer nearly had a heart attack because of it.

  
One day, he’d really let Ren have it, but work came first. He had to repeat that over and over in his mind, like it was something he had to memorize.

  
And speaking of work coming first…

  
“Oh, is that ...? Hey, Takeru-kun!”

  
When Takeru had finished paying for his items and stepped outside the sliding doors of the grocery, a familiar voice called out to him.

  
He turned his head to see Saki Mizushima, a fellow idol at 315Production, farther up the street than he was, bundled up for the cold weather that day— a cute (or what Takeru understood to be “cute”) pink dresscoat with a matching pink hat and scarf, with black leggings and boots to match (or what Takeru understood to “match”). He knew who Saki was, and they had talked plenty of times at the office, but their respective idol groups were always so busy that it wasn’t as if they had ever hung out before. Maybe that was a good thing, though, because Takeru didn’t really know how to entertain people outside of idol work and boxing. The fact that Saki still approached him despite this oversight made him grin.

  
Takeru shifted the bags he held onto one hand and raised his free one, waving.

  
Saki quickly skipped up to him, smiling, “Funny coincidence, seeing you here! I just got out of lessons now, so I’m exhausted~ I feel like my head’s spinning still.” He followed up his statement with an over-the-top sigh and put a hand to his forehead. It didn’t seem like lessons were easy on anyone, then. Today, especially after Ren’s mishaps, Takeru could relate to how he felt.

  
Saki looked away from Takeru, silent, then stuck his tongue out, upset, “Aw. I wanted to buy a juice…”

  
Takeru followed his line of sight to see that the grocery had just closed behind him.

  
“Rude.” Takeru spat. “Gimmie a sec…”

  
Takeru rummaged through his purchases and pulled out a strawberry drink, holding it out to Saki, “Here. I picked it up because it was on sale.” He felt bad giving him a cold drink when the seasons had just finished changing over to winter, but he knew Saki probably needed something to keep him going after day-long lessons.

  
Saki’s eyes lit up immediately, and he carefully took the bottle from Takeru’s hands— which made Takeru notice he was wearing pink gloves along with his scarf and hat, and they were ridiculously soft. He almost felt kind of ashamed of his own clothing, which was just his exercise outfit and a large, scratchy coat. The two definitely didn’t have anything close to the same style.

  
“No way! I can have this?!” Saki asked, excited. His excitement made Takeru sigh with relief, letting him know that Saki was a fan of what he’d offered.

  
Takeru nodded, and he watched as Saki finished the entire bottle within just a few nanoseconds. He didn’t even have time to react properly, as Saki crushed the bottle and deposited it in the recycling bin outside the grocery without letting him get a word in.

  
Then, without warning, he linked arms with Takeru, beaming.

  
Takeru stared down at him, confused. Was Saki feeling weak or something? No, if he was, he wouldn’t be smiling…

  
Saki either didn’t notice the confusion or didn’t care. Instead, he pointed down the road and announced, “Let’s walk home together! Producer told me that the office is giving you a place to stay near here. I live close by, so I can drop you off!” Then, he took a step forward, “As repayment for giving me a drink.”

  
Oh, that made sense. Though he didn’t understand why he had to be holding him… Maybe to preserve body heat? It must be under 40 degrees out, so it was understandable.

  
The walk to Takeru’s apartment was unsurprisingly one sided in conversation, enough dialogue to last an entire year’s worth of trips home and more. It was all thanks to Saki’s extraordinary ability to ramble on and on, which was more comforting and funny than anything else. With Saki talking and Takeru occasionally giving his own input, the two had a conversation that somehow still managed to be executed naturally.

  
“Today was so, so, so busy. We’re having a collaboration with Beit right now, and everyone there but me and Kyouji-kun have the stamina of, like… Beasts! It’s crazy! I was trying super hard to keep up, but after a while I had to relax for a bit. I’m supposed to be the cute one, I can’t run around like crazy!” Saki said as the two were over halfway home, squeezing Takeru’s arm as a cold gust of wind brushed by.

  
“You’re not like that at all, you know?” Saki looked up at him, and Takeru stared down, suddenly becoming a lot more self conscious about the fact that he was so close.

  
Probably because he was pretty warm with all of his accessories— with how cold it was out, it was hard not to just want to run inside a store to the nearest heater.

  
Yeah. That had to be it.

  
“Mizushima-san… Are you saying I’m not cute?” He asked, jokingly, but then felt like it was a stupid question. A joke that went a little too far.

  
Saki blinked, silent for a moment. But before Takeru could apologize, he laughed, “Takeru-kun, I didn’t know you were concerned about something like that! How out of character!”

  
Takeru huffed, “Oi, I never specifically said I was.”

  
The two kept walking, Saki smiling wide and giggling. However, the more they made their way forward, the more silent he became, until he slowly tightened his grip on his arm, then murmured, “You know, Takeru-kun, I think you’re—“

  
Takeru halted, silencing Saki.

  
They had reached the block before his apartment, stopping in front of a nearly empty playground and garden area Takeru frequented when he wanted to train. This was where he needed to be, where he went every day.

  
Gently, he pulled away from Saki’s grasp and opened one of the grocery bags he held. “Sorry. Can you give me a sec?”

  
Saki looked disappointed for a moment, but then put in a smile and tilted his head. “Huh? Did you forget something?” He asked.

  
Takeru shook his head, unveiling a few cans of cat food he bought earlier and putting the rest of the bags on the dirt beneath them. “The reason why I went shopping…” He stepped forward, more inside the park, leaving Saki at its entrance.

  
The second he opened one can, several cats rushed out from the bushes surrounding them, all running up to Takeru and displaying their affections by rubbing against him or climbing up him.

  
Though the sight was typical for Takeru, Saki was absolutely delighted. To say he had stars in his eyes would he a vast understatement. “Oh my gosh! Takeru-kun, you’re like a cat whisperer!” He squealed.

  
Takeru bent down and scratched under a neck of one of the strays— a brown one he had only begun to see recently over the past couple weeks. “I just take care of them because no one else will. It’s kinda sad.” He said, placing one opened can of food down on the ground and then slowly scooting backwards to open another to repeat the same process.

  
Then he looked up at Saki.

  
“You wanna feed ‘em?” He asked.

  
Saki’s eyes widened, and he clapped his hands over his mouth. “No way… Can I?!”

  
Takeru beckoned him into the park where he was crouched, and Saki carefully tiptoed his way over, making sure not to hurt any of the strays that were running about.

  
Saki crouched next to him, then decided to sit down entirely, and Takeru took his hands in his, opening the last can of food he had by guiding Saki through it. Strangely enough, Saki was extremely quiet despite how much he had been talking before, and his face was red.

  
It really was cold out, after all. He was probably focusing on opening the can properly. Takeru himself was getting too distracted by Saki’s presence as well, finding that he smelled a lot like strawberries when the two were this close.

  
“So.” Takeru let go of Saki’s hands, feeling odd after doing so, “You can put it on the floor and have them crowd around it… Or you can hold it up to one of them so they eat directly out of it. Whichever you’re good with.”

  
Saki bit his lip, “I’ve never fed them before… So I’ll do it how you do it, Takeru-kun!” 

  
He set the can down and watched intently as the last couple of hungry cats attacked the can on the floor. Takeru laughed, pointing at an orange and white one that was laying off to the side, “That one,” He grinned, “Keeps getting fatter and fatter. I’m convinced someone else is feeding him, even though I feed these guys every day.”

  
“...I didn’t know you did this kind of thing.” Saki murmured, stretching his hand out and getting a cat to rub its face on his gloves.

  
Takeru raised an eyebrow, looking at him, “Yeah… Well, I’ve just never really talked about it that much with everyone else. What’d you think I did?”

  
Saki paused, then laughed, “Well, you’ll think I’m silly... I kind of thought you had a girlfriend or something. When you gave me that drink I thought that it was meant for her originally, or you happened to have an extra.” He looked down at the ground, “So I thought I’d go back to your place and maybe she’d be there so I could see her, y’know? But it turns out you were just hiding cats from me.” His eyes widened for a moment as a cat decided to begin sleeping on his lap. “It’s funny, kind of. Getting worked up for nothing…”

 

What did he mean by getting worked up?

 

Takeru scoffed, “You think I’ve got what it takes to have a girlfriend?” He stood up, walked to the entrance of the area, and picked up the bags he had put down a few moments before. He thumbed through its contents and counted the leftover cans he had. Not enough… Well, he’d go back to the store again tomorrow, anyways.

  
Saki, troubled by the fact a cat was now sleeping on him, scowled, “Of course you do! You’re, like, everyone’s dream guy!” He insisted. Takeru noticed his face was red again, feeling bad about how cold he must be. He’d definitely invite him to the apartment just so he could get warm.

  
Takeru shook his head, “No way. I might be for the fans, but I’m no good at things outside of boxing and idol work… That’s what’s bad about being an idol, I think. I can become famous, but I can’t let everyone know everything about me at the same time.” He walked up to Saki and crouched down, picking up the cat on his lap and placing it on the side, then picking up the three empty food cans and putting them in an isolated bag.

  
Saki shook his head, standing up, “Well! You know, Takeru-kun… I think you’re wrong. Because I know stuff about you, like how nice you are and how you like to feed cats and how you like video games and how you’re super cool when you’re doing lessons!” He shouted.

  
Takeru turned to say something, but Saki was suddenly just centimeters from him, looking down at the ground. He had a strained expression on his face.

  
Takeru raised an eyebrow, worried. “Mizushima-san? Hey, are you okay—“

  
Saki grabbed Takeru’s hand that rested at his side, “Look... When you said I was saying you weren’t cute… I wanted to say…”

  
He looked up at Takeru, a serious look on his face that was just touched by nervousness and a hard blush, “That I think you’re not just cute, you’re…” He mouthed the words, but his voice didn’t come out.

  
So instead, Saki pushed himself forward and hugged Takeru, the two of their heads almost colliding. With no warning, Takeru usually would have fought someone off if they grabbed him, but now, he was completely frozen, and he felt his face getting hot for reasons he didn’t really understand.

  
But then all the pieces clicked as he thought about Saki’s behavior during their time together, and...

  
“Y-You’re probably my dream guy, you know…?”

 


End file.
